Dhanush has played dual roles for the first time in a political thriller. Director Durai Senthilkumar has delivered two hits for Dhanush’s prestigious production house and for the first time he has worked with the actor in him. Trisha the ageless beauty of Tamil cinema has played a character with negative shades that too as a politician. All these add up to a huge deal of expectations over ‘Kodi’ which has released today. Read on the review to know whether the film will set the screens ablaze for the grand Diwali festival.

Kodi (Dhanush) and Anbu (Dhanush) are twins born to a loyal cadre (Karunas) who sacrifices his life for his party. Kodi who is actively involved in politics since childhood, fits in his father’s dream of making it big in politics and he becomes a full time macho politician against his mother’s (Saranya) wishes. Anbu grows up as a obedient son of his mother and works as a professor in a local college.

Rudra (Trisha) belongs to the rival party of Kodi and she is also a politician since childhood and the one who will do anything to raise through the ranks in her party. But despite their political rivalry Kodi and Rudra have a secret love relationship.

When their respective parties announce Kodi and Rudra as their candidate for an impending by-election power game gets intensified between the two.

Who wins the game? What happens to their personal relationship? What is the role of Anbu in it?Know the answers by watching the film in theaters.

‘Kodi’ is essentially a political film which is high on politics. The film delves deep into politics between ruling and the opposition parties, inter party politics and also the politics of betrayal played by aspiring politicians to rise through the ranks of the party.

True to its Political Thriller tag, the film tries to be realistic but it isn’t. In the process the entertainment quotient takes a dig mainly in the first half which follows the template of films with twins in the lead. Towards the interval the film picks up momentum as the political rivalry within the parties as well as the two lead characters intensifies. The interval block makes us sit attentive with a lot of expectations.

In the second half there are a lot of mass moments that will make a hardcore Dhanush fan scream out of the lungs. But beyond certain mass scenes effectively pulled of by Dhanush, the expectations created by the interval block fizzles out due to logical flaws and predictable twists which would not have been a problem with a fast moving screenplay. Drastic changes undergone by the main characters and their decisions lack a strong reason and that’s another big problem.

We seriously wonder whether people will get the posts of MP’s and MLA’s as easily as shown in the film. And after winning they go everywhere alone without a single policeman as an escort. They self-drive and also exchange punch dialogues in secluded places.

Despite all these flaws the film is saved big time by the lead actors as well as the seasoned supporting artists. While it is a cakewalk for Dhanush as a mass political leader who is brainy as well brawny, it Anbu, the boy next door innocent but clever guy that comes as a refreshing change from the actor. Dhanush has shown tremendous variation between these two characters.

This is going to be one of the most memorable roles played by Trisha as she pulls off a really heavy, multi-layered and a bold female character with finesse. Her facial expressions and body language are perfect. Her voice over artist should get huge credit, for the dialogues delivered by her in apt tone and perfect diction makes this character more powerful. Trisha’s boldness in accepting such a role should also be appreciated.

Anupama Parameshwaran attracts as a quirky girl next door character in the first half and gets just a few blink you will miss appearances in the second half.

Saranya in a emotional as well as practical mother character comes up with a neat show yet again. The way her relationship with her two sons has been written and executed deserves a special mention.

S.A.Chandrasekar as a respectable party leader who is also a practical politician gives a dignified performance and one just feels that the veteran’s acting skills be frequently used by Tamil filmmakers.

Kaali Venkat as a loyal ally of Dhanush gives yet another impressive performance while Karunaas adequate for his cameo role.

This is Santhosh Narayanan’s first film with Dhanush and the ‘Kabali’ music director has lived up to the expectations with regards to background score especially in mass scenes. As far as songs are concerned the ‘Potta kozhi’ duet and the theme song are good to listen while the others just pass by as fillers.

Venkatesh’s cinematography effectively captures the beauty of Pollachi while Editor Prakash Mabbu could have employed more cuts and made the film trimmer.

Verdict: Effective performances of Dhanush and Trisha and a few mass scenes in the second half make this neither realistic nor highly entertaining ‘Kodi,’ a watchable fare.